BASKETBALL; Playground Legends In the Making At Rucker Park

By VINCENT M. MALLOZZI

Published: July 11, 2006

On a recent Saturday afternoon in Harlem, a bus stopped at 155th Street and Eighth Avenue, dropping off dozens of tourists at what is perhaps the world's most famous asphalt arena.

Gregory Marius, the chief executive of the Entertainers Basketball Classic, was soon holding court at Rucker Park, regaling visitors with stories of the great games and colorful names that have filled his summer tournament the past 25 years.

''We've come a long way,'' he told the crowd. Many were taking pictures of the magical, windswept stage located across the street from the site of the Polo Grounds, where a housing complex now covers the same ground that Willie Mays once did for the New York Giants.

From the 1950's to the late 1970's, N.B.A. stars like Wilt Chamberlain, Julius Erving and Nate Archibald did battle in Rucker Park with their playground counterparts, legends of the blacktop like Jumping Jackie Jackson; Joe Hammond, known as the Destroyer; and Richard Kirkland, nicknamed Pee Wee.

By the early 1980's, Marius built upon the pro-versus-playground concept, adding a hip-hop soundtrack, recruiting corporate sponsors and using high-profile celebrity coaches like P. Diddy, Fat Joe and Jay-Z from the music world.

In recent years, Marius has secured television contracts, giving national audiences a chance to see a new generation of professionals like Kobe Bryant, Vince Carter, Allen Iverson and Stephon Marbury compete against the current crop of playground phenoms like Malloy Nesmith, known as Future; Junie Sanders, nicknamed General Electric; and Adrian Walton, known as Hollywood. The games, once shown on NBA TV, can be seen Monday nights as part of MSG's SummerBall series. And MTV2 has been showing highlights of the games.

With each passing summer, tourists and celebrities like Denzel Washington, Alicia Keys and Bill Clinton squeeze into the tiny park, sitting alongside the Harlem faithful whose families have been flocking to the Rucker games since 1946. That was when Holcombe Rucker, a parks department employee, began staging a tournament to help keep the neighborhood children off the streets.

On June 19, the curtain rose again at Rucker Park. Joakim Noah, who helped Florida win the N.C.A.A. Division I men's basketball championship this year, joined Walton on a team called HTRE. They led the team to a victory against D Block, which features Dahntay Jones of the Memphis Grizzlies. Julius Hodge, a local product who is now with the Denver Nuggets, will soon join the HTRE roster, and Chris Paul of the New Orleans Hornets will join D Block.

''This is the tournament that made me a streetball legend,'' Walton said. ''From one day to the next, you never know which basketball star or celebrity will show up, and that's what makes this place so special.''

Photos: ONE WAY TO FIND A SEAT -- Rucker Park has been drawing crowds to its annual showcase since the 1950's.; IN THE SHADOW OF THE POLO GROUNDS -- Joakim Noah, who helped Florida to an N.C.A.A. title this year, is competing on the HTRE team.; HOLLYWOOD AND TWINE -- Adrian Walton, known as Hollywood, says the Rucker tournament ''made me a streetball legend.'' (Photographs by FRED R. CONRAD/The New York Times)